Vandals smash front door of Dipa’s Limassol office

The front door of Dipa’s Limassol office was smashed by a group of people presenting themselves as anarchists, with a video of the incident emerging on social media on Wednesday.

The video appeared on Greek anarchist website Indymedia, with responsibility for the incident being claimed by a group calling itself the Anarchist Fight Against Corruption.

It said it had decided to smash the door in response to a video which emerged last week alleging campaign finance lawbreaking on the part of President Nikos Christodoulides and his associates, saying that what was revealed in that video constitutes “nothing more than technocratic authoritarianism and capitalist interests”.

Dipa is one of three parties which support Christodoulides’ government, alongside Diko and Edek.

The group also made reference to the social support body, which was until Sunday chaired by First Lady Philippa Karsera Christodoulides, and which, according to the allegations levelled in the video, has been used to allow private donors to curry favour with the government, describing the body as “a weapon of social influence”.

“As anarchists, we believe that the current corruption scandal follows a general pattern as old as the system of power itself. Families with strict patriarchal power of powerful men compete or cooperate with each other to share control of state mechanisms and capital that is plundered through taxation and consumption,” it said.

It added that “the patriarchal family model is used as a mechanism for the internal control of relatives … who are placed by dominant men in key positions of the state” and that “in fact, through the institution of marriage, clans are united and expanded, resulting in increased elite cohesion”.

This assertion comes in reference to the fact that Christodoulides’ now former chief of staff Charalambos Charalambous, who resigned in light of the video on Monday, is married to the first lady’s sister.

“The ruling class and administration of the country behave in society exactly like the patriarchal man in the family. It exploits her, buys her off, uses violence or rapes her, finds collaborators … and in the end tells her to keep her mouth shut so that the family is not exposed to the outside world,” it said.

It went on to say that “Cypriot society must reject this system of power and every system of power as structurally corrupt”.

“If it does not stop being bought off and kept silent, such systems will not stop being built on its back and the backs of migrant workers,” it said.

It called on the public to abstain from May’s parliamentary elections, but said that while that is “one step”, more action must follow.

“The most important step required for society to begin to breathe and come out of the system of entanglement and cover-up is to begin to self-organise and mobilise,” it said.

It added that “counterattacks on targets which hold central responsibility for the destruction of Cyprus’ society and natural environment must be carried out to deliver at least the minimal justice and to destroy structures which exploit and oppress people’s lives”.

Dipa responded to the incident, saying that it “strongly condemns the attack”.

“We have already filed a complaint, and we expect the competent authorities to do their duty. In fact, attempting to ‘christen’ violence as ‘cleansing’ is dangerous and unacceptable. Democracy cannot be blackmailed, terrorised, or silenced,” it said.

Instead, it said, “in such moments, calmness, sobriety and respect for institutions are needed”.

“Political confrontation is done through arguments and democratic dialogue, not through threats, attacks and destruction,” it said.

Government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis described the incident as “reprehensible” and said it “constitutes a direct affront and assault on democracy, which we all have a responsibility to safeguard”.

“Such actions do not constitute political expression but acts of violence which undermine democratic dialogue and respect for democratic institutions. Disagreements are expressed through words and arguments, not through destruction,” he said.

He added that the “competent authorities” are “taking the necessary actions to investigate the matter”.

“It is all of our duty to isolate such unacceptable practices and to safeguard the rule of law and our democratic values,” he said.